The Boeing Phantom Ray is an American demonstration

stealth Stealth may refer to: Military *Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles **Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology **Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** Stea ...

unmanned combat air vehicle An unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), also known as a combat drone, colloquially shortened as drone or battlefield UAV, is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that is used for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance ...

(UCAV) developed by

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

using company funds. The autonomous Phantom Ray is a

flying wing A flying wing is a tailless fixed-wing aircraft that has no definite fuselage, with its crew, payload, fuel, and equipment housed inside the main wing structure. A flying wing may have various small protuberances such as pods, nacelles, blis ...

around the size of a conventional

fighter jet Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

, and first flew in April 2011. It will conduct a program of test flights involving surveillance, ground attack and autonomous aerial refueling missions. The developers say it can carry 4,500 pounds (2,040 kg) of payload.

Design and development

The Phantom Ray project, called "Project Reblue" internally at Boeing, was first conceived in mid-2007, and started in earnest in June 2008. The project was secret within the company, except for a small number of executives and engineers, until May 2009. Developed by the

Boeing Phantom Works Boeing Phantom Works is the advanced prototyping arm of the defense and security side of Boeing. Its primary focus is developing advanced military products and technologies, many of them highly classified. Founded by McDonnell Douglas, the re ...

, the Phantom Ray is based on the X-45C prototype aircraft, which Boeing originally developed for the

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is a research and development agency of the United States Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military. Originally known as the Adv ...

(DARPA), the US Air Force, and the US Navy Joint Unmanned Combat Air Systems (J-UCAS) program in 2002. The Phantom Ray was not aimed at any particular military program or competition, although Boeing considered using the design as an entry for the Navy's Unmanned Carrier-Launched Surveillance and Strike (UCLASS) program. The Phantom Ray was unveiled on May 10, 2010, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, whic ...

.Jackson, Randy
"Phantom Ray makes its debut in St. Louis"
. Boeing. May 10, 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2013. In November 2010, low-speed taxi tests were carried out in St. Louis. The demonstrator aircraft was to perform ten test flights over six months, supporting missions such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; suppression of enemy air defenses; seek-and-destroy;

electronic attack An electronic countermeasure (ECM) is an electrical or electronic device designed to trick or deceive radar, sonar, or other detection systems, like infrared (IR) or lasers. It may be used both offensively and defensively to deny targeting in ...

; hunter/killer; and autonomous aerial refueling."Boeing to Develop, Fly 'Phantom Ray' Technology Demonstrator"
. Boeing. May 8, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2013. Boeing anticipated that the Phantom Ray would be the first of a series of new prototype aircraft. The Phantom Ray was scheduled to make its

maiden flight The maiden flight, also known as first flight, of an aircraft is the first occasion on which it leaves the ground under its own power. The same term is also used for the first launch of rockets. The maiden flight of a new aircraft type is alwa ...

in December 2010 from

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...

Dryden Flight Research Center The NASA Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) is an aeronautical research center operated by NASA. Its primary campus is located inside Edwards Air Force Base in California and is considered NASA's premier site for aeronautical res ...

, but this was later rescheduled, and the aircraft first flew on April 27, 2011, from

Edwards AFB Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is Edw ...

,Trimble, Stephen
"Phantom Ray first flight raises funding hopes"
''Flight International''. May 4, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2013."Boeing Phantom Ray Takes a Ride on NASA's Shuttle Carrier Aircraft"
Boeing. December 13, 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2013. having been carried there by the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, ...

Shuttle Carrier Aircraft The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA) are two extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners that NASA used to transport Space Shuttle orbiters. One (N905NA) is a 747-100 model, while the other (N911NA) is a short range 747-100SR. The SCAs were used t ...

. The Phantom Ray flew to 7,500 feet and reached a speed of 178 knots, flying for a total of 17 minutes.

Specifications

Phantom Ray UCAV on the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft

''Values for the X-45 are marked with an asterisk (*).''

References

{{Stealth aircraft Stealth aircraft Phantom Ray Flying wings Unmanned stealth aircraft Unmanned aerial vehicles of the United States Single-engined jet aircraft 2010s United States experimental aircraft Aircraft first flown in 2011

Design and development

Specifications

See also

References